Gauge cock



' July 13,1926.

' F.'A.FEELDS GAUGE COCK Filed March 27, 1925 XNVENTCR WITNESSES BY MATTORNEYS Patented July I3, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT o FIC FRED A. FIELDS, OF THREE spins, OKLAHOMA,assrenon 0E ONE-THIRD To JAMES o.

LAW, OF ronKAwA, OKLAHOMA.

I GAUGE coon.

Application filed March 27, 1925. Serial No. 18,880.

herein deof a gauge cock-of the character described.

which will be actuated by gravity to close tightly even though wear hastaken place on the relatively movable cooperative parts of the cock.

A further object of the invention is the provision in a gauge cock ofthe character described of an adjustable valve member and .awvalve seatmember which is softer than the valve and is adapted to have a fluidtight contact with the valve at all times when the valve is closed. i i

-A still further object of the invention is the provisionin a gauge cockof a valve seat member that can be replaced or renewed quickly whenrequired at but slight expense and which will last a long time in theservicefor which it. is intended. I ,Other objects and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following description, considered inconjunction with the accompanying. drawings in which 1-- Figure 1 isaview, mainly in sideelevation and partly in vertical section, showingthe improved gauge ,cock' applied;

' Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the gauge cock;and

Figure 3 is an end view of the body of the gauge cock.

The improved gauge cock comprises a tubular body 1 made ot'brass or anyother suitable metal and formed with a reduced externally threadedattaching portion 2 adapted for engagement with a threaded opening 3 ina plate 1, which in actual practice is a portion of a verti al wall ofthe water chamber of a boiler or the like. The body 1 preferably isnon-circular in cross sectional contour so that it can be engaged firmlyby a wrench or like tool for convenience in attaching the body 1 to theplate 4 or detaching it therefrom.

The bore of the tubular body 1 is desig nated 5 and is best seen inFigure 2.

indicated at 6' and the inner end portion of the bore also preferably isenlarged'as indicated at 7, the enlarged portion 7 c0mpris- The. outerend portion of the bore is enlarged as ingithe greater part of thelength of the bore.

. A valve seat member 8 is shown as being a disk which fits in theenlarged portion 6 of the bore andprotrudes'slightly therefrom, theouter face of the valve seat mem her 8 preferably being flat and lyingin a vertical plane. The bore of the valve seat member Sis indicated at9 and is axially alined with the bore 5, being of the same diameterasthe bore 5. The valve seat member 8 is made of a relatively softmetal, such as Babbitt metal, lead or the like.

- A gravity handle 10 is provided with a central bore which extends theentire length of the gravity handle. and which comprises a screwthreaded outer end portion 11, an enlarged intermediate portion 12 ofrelatively great length andan inner end portion 13 which is of lessdiameter than the inter mediate portion12. The handle member 10 isformed with a pair of spaced lugs 14; at its inner end on the .upperside thereof, these lugs extending beyond the plane of the in- .ner endof. the handle member and straddling a lug 15 that is formedon the bodyportion 1 at the outer end of the upper side of the outer face of thevalve seatmember 8.

valve 17 oi the needle valve type extends througlrthe bore of the handlemember 12 and has a threaded outer end portion 18 in engagement with thethreaded portion 11 or the bore of the handle 12, the inner end portiono't'the valve rod being tapering as shown at 19 and being adapted whenthe handle 10 has been actuated by gravity to swing to the positionillustrated in Figures 1 and 2 to enter. the outer end of the bore 9 ofthe valve seat member and to engage with the wall of the bore9 of thevalve seat member to prevent escape offiuid from the bore substantiallyalined with the bore of the valve seat member 8 when the tapering valve17 is. engaged with the wall of the bore of the valve seat member asillustrated in Figuresl and 2, the bore 01 the valve seat mem- -of thevalve her constituting a valve seat. The valve 17 is made of anysuitable metal that is conside ably harder than the .iaterial of whichthe valve seat member 8 is formed and the tapering valve 17 also is ofgreater diameter for the greater part of i s length than the diameter ofthe bore of the valve seat member, but of course tapers to a point atits inner end so that it will enter and closely contact with its seatwhen the handle is in th position exhibited in Figures 1 and 2. Sincethe axis of the horizontal pivot pin it) substantially in the plane otthe outer fa-e of the valve seat member 8, the tapering e 17' will beswung to position to enter th outer end of the bore 9 of the valve seatmember and to seat against the latter when the handle 10 swings downwardfrom raised position t the position shown in Figures l and 2 withoutcontact of the extremity of the tapering valve with the outer face seat'ieinber and therefore without causing scoring or injury to the valveseat member.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood. The handle 10 has theexternal surface thereof formed so that it can be gripped convenientlyin the and of an operator, the outer end portion of the handlepreferably being enlarged somewhat as shown. The handle is of relativelygreat weight and will be actuated by gravity to hold the valve tightlyagainst its seat. Since the valve seat member is formed of relativelysoft material and the valve is formed of a much harder material, such asa hard graderof steel, wear on the valve seat member will not result inleakage since the pressure on the valve seat will be sutlicient to causethe valve seat to conform to the contour of the port-ion of the valvethat is in contact therewith. The valve rod may be provided with a handwheel 20 or like handle whereby the valve rod can be turned to adjustthe length of the portion of the tapering valve that extends beyond theinner end of the handle 10 to compensate for wear on the valve seatmember so that the valve and its rod will be axially alined with thevalve seat. member 8 when the valve is in contact with its seat. Whenrequired the valve seat member 8 can be replaced quickly as a unit atbut slight expense since the material of which the valve seat member isformed is malleable and can be hammered to place in the enlarged portion6 of the bore of the body 1 or can be placed therein and shaped whenheated so as to be plastic or molten. If desired, the valve seat membercan be renewed as wear takes place thereon by placing a nail or likemember of the same diameter as the bore of the valve seat member in thelatter and then pouring molten lead about the nail and shaping the leaduntil the valve seat member has been builtup to the desired and shape,the nail then being withdrawn to provide the bore of the valve seatmember against which the valve of the device will seat when the handle10 hasbeen n'ioved'by gravity to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2.

It will be manifest from the foregoing that my invention provides agauge cock which will last a long time in service and that the valveseat member, which is the only part of the device on which wear willtake place, can be renewed or replaced quicklyand cheaply when required.It also will be obvious that considerable wear can take place on thevalve seat member without there being any necessity of repairing orreplacing the valve seat member to prevent leakage.

In actual practice, a plurality of the gauge cocks are attached toopenings at different levels in a vertical wall of the water chamber ofa steam boiler, the lowest of the gauge cocks being located near thelevel of the bottom of the water chamber. The gauge cocks are opened inturn, beginning with the gauge cock at the highest level and of courseonly steam will escape from the gauge cock until the gauge cock which isin communication with the water chamber below the level of water withinthe water chamber of the boiler has been opened. The depth of waterwithin the water cham ber thus can be quickly ascertained with a view tosupplying water to the water chamber of the boiler when required.

Obviously my invention is susceptible of embodiment in forms other thanthat herein described and I therefore claim as my own all suchmodifications and adaptations of the form of the device herein describedthat fairly fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim 1. A gauge cock comprising a tubular body adapted for attachmentto the shell of a steam boiler or the like, the outer end portion of thebore of the tubular body being enlarged, said enlarged portion of thebore decreasing in area in cross section from its inner end to its outerend, a valve seat member completely filling the enlarged outer endportion of the bore of the tubular body, said valve seat member being;made of a relatively soft metal and having a central bore, a gravityhandle pivotally attached to said tubular body, and a valve made of aharder metal than that of which said valve seat member is composed, saidvalve being carried by said handle in position to engage the bore ofsaid valve seat member when said handle is substantially alined withsaid tubular body.

2. A gauge cock of the character de scribed comprising a tubular bodyhaving an externally reduced threaded inner end portion, the outer endportlongof the bore of saidtubular body being enlarged, said enlargedouter end portlon of the bore decreasing in area from its inner to itsouter end, the inner wall of said enlarged end portion of the bore beingsubstantially frusto-conieal, a valve seat member filling in theenlarged outer end portion of said bore,

andextending beyond the outer end ofthe here, said valve seat memberhaving an axial bore in alinement with the bore of the tubular body, atubular gravity handle swingingly attached at its upper side to saidtubular body, and a needle valve having a rod like stem adjustablyengaged with the bore.

bular body being enlarged, a valve seat member secured in said enlargedouter end portion or the'bore of said tubular body and protruding fromsaid bore, the outer face: of vsaid valve, seat member beingsubstantially flat and lying at a plane extend ing at right angles tothe longitudinal axisof saidtubuiar body, said valve seat member havingan axial bore, a needle valve,

anelongated gravity handle having an axial borethrough which said needlevalve extends, lapped eooperative attaching lugs on theupper portions ofthe adjacent ends of said tubular body and said gravity handle, saidlugshaving alined transverse openings, anda horizontal pivot pinreceived in said alined transverse openings, the axis of said pivot pinlying in the plane of the outer face of said valve seat member and saidpivot pin and said lugs cooperating-to attaeh said handle to saidtubular body so that said needle valve will swing to position to enterthe outer end of the bore of said valve seat member Without eontaotingthe' outer face of said valve seat member when said handle is swung bygravity about the axis ofsaid 'pivot'pin towardthe outer end of saidtubular body. 7 FRED A. FIELDS. e

